Crime Q&A: Has man accused of running over CHP officer been sentenced?

Q: I served on the trial for Austin Barry Scott but haven’t been able to find out what sentencing took place for this regarding the guilty charges pronounced at the trial. Could you please share the results?

CM, Sacramento

A: Austin Barry Scott was accused of purposely running over and critically injuring California Highway Patrol Officer Michael Ericson in the median of Interstate 80 near Madison Avenue in April 2016.

A Sacramento County jury in March found Scott guilty of five charges: assault on a peace officer, serious bodily injury to a peace officer, hit and run with serious injury and two counts of unlawfully taking a vehicle. But the most serious charge, attempted murder, resulted in a hung jury.

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According to Sacramento Superior Court records available online, Scott pleaded guilty to the attempted murder charge May 5. A probation hearing, judgment and sentencing are set for June 2.

CHP officials said Ericson, a 17-year veteran with the agency, was either aiding a disabled motorist or performing an enforcement stop when Scott, 29, of Reno intentionally backed a truck into the officer.

Scott abandoned the truck, which had been reported stolen out of Reno, on I-80 near Northgate Boulevard and took a pickup truck belonging to a contractor working on a California Department of Transportation Project, investigators said. Scott was arrested after a pursuit on I-80 ended in Solano County.

Ericson was hospitalized and released from UC Davis Medical Center about two months later.